119650-need-more-dommies
Content I've said it before and I'll say it again. If an Exile guild hadn't up and made me an officer, then GM, I probably would be Dominion. But I am a GM Exile side, so I can't help you there. | |} ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- I agree with this, which is why I'm investing in a Cassian and Draken alt in the future. | |} ---- ---- Most likely since these are the 2 races with the most appeal to RPer types between both factions. I wish there were more Dominion as well but I started Exile since I prefer Aurin slightly more than Draken personally, now it's too late since I have a guild doing DS and all. :( I do hope they find some way to attract more potential Dominion players though, it might be just impossible until Dominion gets a pretty race someday. It did seem even for awhile though back in the day, I was figuring Dominion may possibly become more popular than Exiles even at some point. | |} ---- True. I play chua and even I feel like avoiding other chua a lot these days. Chua RP is the most drama-filled RP I have ever experienced, and drama RP is okay, but it just drags on and on and on andonandonandon... Really gets annoying afterwhile. And personally: It bugs the crap out of me when I see chua RPers acting as non-chua as possible, with mannerisms and personalities like "I was raised by Cassians so I have perfect grammar" and "I like to heal, not hurt" and "Chua are also to blame in this war so we should feel kinda ashamed." I'm sure you've all seen at least one of these. I wouldn't be bothered by this if it was only a couple of them, but I've seen so many chua RPers like this. I mean, if you're gonna act as non-chua as possible, then WHY NOT JUST ROLEPLAY AS A DIFFERENT, MORE FITTING RACE? I understand that it's important not to make your character a cookie-cutter stereotype, since roleplaying a chua that goes "I AM CHUA, THERFORE I MUST SCIENCE AND EXPERIMENTS AND EXPLOSIONS AND SCIENCE EXPLOSIONS" is just as annoying, but at the same time there's almost no point in disregarding general race backgrounds and traits for the sake of being "unique and different". Neither of them is good for the RP community, and I feel it's always best to make a characters leans somewhere in the middle. But I'm going off-topic so... /end rant I do agree that Dominion faction could use more players, but sadly many people won't even consider playing as Dominion because they're "The Bad Guys", even though both factions have considerably good and evil NPCs and groups among their ranks and a crapton of morally gray scenarios between them (and I would argue that Toric Antevian is more heroic and noble than anyone on the Exile side). But nope... Dominion guys wear red, so they're OBVIOUSLY evil. Also: The way that Carbine Studios promotes the two factions to the public doesn't help very much, especially with those opening tutorial areas with the Exile players getting to save a pregnant women's life, while Dominion players get to perform experimental executions on captive NPCs (even though I'm certain that the story explains that those NPCs were all brainwashed during cryosleep by Exiles, and the effects were irreversible so I see it more like a mercy killing.) But it can't be helped. joke Wearing blue means you're good, wearing red means you're evil, and wearing purple means you're gay, and that's just the way nature intended it to be! /joke | |} ---- HUGE population shift when Chua can be warriors. Take this blade and go forth, o' mighty minute titan. | |} ---- Lolz | |} ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Eh I think we've pretty much reached that point already...everytime im in a group...Chua....more Chua...and oh look a Mech-nevermind that was a Chua standing next to an NPC... As for factions themselves this was something we've discussed a few times that basically boiled down to: A lot more initial advertising with Exiles, with very little for Dominion and what is shown tends to paint us in a more evil and stuck up light( I believe we boild this down further that our best characters weren't shown off like Toric, Lex,Phadra, and for some even Artemis wouldv'e been better than Malvolio) Firefly fans Perception/first impression that Dominion are THE bad guys For some people it's the race/class restrictions Aurin... | |} ---- The popularity of warriors is pretty understandable, I think. Seeing as how it is the only non-stealth melee class option in the game, currently, it would make sense that there would be quite a few of them. Anyhow, back on topic. I think the Dominion population issue may be in part due to (aside from typical "bad guy" impressions) the playable races. Personally, even though I really like the Mechari, I've always felt the Exiles had a more dynamic selection of races. Something about them feels a bit more diverse and creative than the Dominion. They have access to the largest "big" race (Granok), a dark race (Mordesh), and a light-hearted, small "pretty/cute" race (Aurin). They have a "something for everyone" type of appeal that I never really got from the Dominion (as much as I love my Dommies). Perhaps this is just personal sentiment though. | |} ---- It might be. I connect with the Mordesh and Granok, but I think I prefer Cassian mannerisms to Exile ones and I actually love the Draken, Chua, and Mechari (although I think the Mechari could use some "long" hair options the way the Mordesh have). Maybe it's just a result of having that gruff antihero shoved down my throat since I was born, but the Exiles feel... "cheesy" to me, if that's the right word. I suppose that's why my Mordesh Warrior is a voodoo shaman, my Aurin is a bad-tempered computer geek, and my Granok is a highly sophisticated and well-educated doctor, and my Exile Humans are a sort of Native American hunter-tracker and a sort of recently-Cassian special operations demolition expert. The 'stock' personalities of the Exile races rub me the wrong way. | |} ---- All of the racial stock personalities are huge caricatures. IMO compared to RL counterparts their norms tend to track with extremist viewpoints. Aurin eco-terrorists, Granoks are uber-conservative, Chua are psychotic, etc. From an RP perspective that's very limiting. Grumpy Aurin and nice Chua aren't just striving for uniqueness, it's trying to make some busted design decisions work in the long term. (Of course nothing is more busted than hard factioning). I think a driver of racial choice is how attractive you can make a character. For the life of me I can't make male characters look good. Mostly because their clothing options tend to stink. Consequently I tend to make a lot of female characters. Even then it took me a long time to get my Draken and Mordesh characters looking right. Still not a fan of either gender Granok and I doubt I'll ever roll a Chua. | |} ---- Goodness, we sound similar. :) The Mordesh and Granok are the two largest reasons that tempt me to main an Exile. My problem is that I have trouble adjusting to the light-hearted theme of the Exiles as a faction ("cheesy" is an excellent way of putting it). I've always preferred darker, grittier anti-heroes to your typical, rag-tag bunch of rebellious "good" guys. Darker character concepts are definitely plausible on the Exile side, though. My "Exile main," if you will, is a reclusive, morally ambiguous meta physicist who believes that the liberal use of unsavory arts (such as chemical warfare and necromancy) is essential to the survival of the Exiles. Also, contrary to most Mordesh, he does not lament his undead existence but rather embraces it as a higher state of being. He's a bit of a fanatic but that's what makes him fun to play. :P | |} ---- I'd argue they are the bad guys, but it has nothing to do with their colors or the fact that their main religion is a Church Militant. No, the problem the Dominion faces is a backstory filled with transgressions that are evil by any standard except the "might makes right" morality (which is, for most people I know, outright wrong). There's a very lengthy lore discussion in the...well, Lore subforum. You should check it out and we can have further discussion there. Though I think the last six or so posts there pretty much settled the conversation for good. They might not be depicted as absolutely evil, but they are certaily shown as much more evil than the Exiles are. Both in-game and out of game. Just take a look at the latest entry in the interactive storyline. Even their main divinity is shown to be a jerk. We have yet to see how bad the Exiles were before becoming the Exiles, I imagine, but right now every piece of lore is pointing at the Dominion and saying "they are evil." | |} ---- To be fair, they're evil by narrative. Sort of that "What have the Romans done for us?" bit from Holy Grail. We sort of understand that kind of hegemony by royalty to be evil because that's sort of the narrative in the west. What the Dominion can be called definitively are things like totalitarian, patrician, militant, and a whole host of other things. That's sort of pinging the button of "evil" for western culture in the last 200 odd years. But all our stories previous to that about knights fighting valiantly in their kings' service all the way to Chinese stories about Kongming proving some of his superiors incompetent with his ingenuity, they're all based on ideas of service and might through warfare. It's only fairly recently in history that we began to regard the Dominion's story as one of evil. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's not like the Dominion are written like WoW's Alliance is written and they're definitely meant to portray a lot of the things we revile in modern society. I'm just saying to take the writing with a grain of salt. Just because it fits our archetypical Star Wars narrative doesn't mean it's completely applicable. Most of the Dominion NPCs I ran into aren't really bad people. They certainly take a different view of life and conflict than your average Exile. Your Dommie can be played as a jackbooted thug or a serene samurai, and the Dominion would be a better fit than the Exiles. Like all good lore, it's not an instruction manual, it's a pantry full of ingredients. | |} ---- Until Chua is all that is left, there are not enough Chua. | |} ---- ---- I believe they have to be a good thing to begin with though for that phrase to apply ;) | |} ---- ---- ---- Welcome to the game! :D The Dominion is typically the less populous faction which is what we're rambling about. :) | |} ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- I played dominion because I read the storyline and background story were much more interesting and engaging. Of course it was true. The opening scene and quests are much more engaging as a dominion player. Contributing to the future of a long-lasting, well established, space monarchy with a rich culture? Yes please! Being a space hobo looking for the next shelter? Well no thank you. :P Having to be a good guy IRL is enough. Let me be the bad guy when I play games! | |} ---- XD | |} ---- I agree. But I'm not saying the Dominion is evil all the way down to the very last member. That's conceptually and practically unsustainable. What I'm saying is that they are evil on an organizational level. We don't need to compare every action or questline in Nexus between the Dominion and the Exiles to find which one is the most evil. We can do so historically, because nothing we could find in Nexus comes even close in scale. Looking at the background of the races and the factions, it becomes fairly obvious that the Dominion is directly responsible for all the wars we know of (particularly, the two that created the Exiles as they exist today: The War on Gnox and Brightland's Rebellion). They are directly responsible for the ravaging of two worlds (Arboria and Bezgelor). They abandoned the Mordesh to their own fate or, in other words, attempted to commit genocide by inaction. Nothing we could find in Nexus compares to any of those events, except maybe the Ikthians trying to use Farside's cannon to blow up Nexus if they couldn't get a proper hold in it. The only other two factions that we know are fond of and might be (or are, or wish to be) responsible for anything comparable are the Ikthians and the Strain, the two biggest threaths of the galaxy that we know of. Yes, Dominion characters and even parts of the hierarchy, or whole groups within can be good people. But the Dominion as a faction? I think their history speaks for itself. | |} ---- Well, that's what I was saying. Sure, those are terrible and evil actions that we understand to be villainous by nature... now. That wasn't the case until very recently in human history. Bringing your religion and advanced education to other cultures that live in states of barbarism and poverty? Nowadays, that's the stuff of Hollywood historical tragedy films, but that's essentially how we built a modern society. Brightland's rebellion essentially happened because they attempted to reign in people who weren't going to follow their rule into their religion. Now? That's understood to be terrible. It's also the sort of thing we glorified as a species until only a few hundred years ago. And, honestly, even as a fan of the Mordesh, I'm not sure I entirely blame them for wanting to commit genocide over the entirety of Grismara. I mean, all credit to the Exiles for bravely letting them tag along, but there are numerous zombie outbreaks pointing to the Dominion actually doing the right thing for the rest of the universe. The Mordesh even have their own protocols for planet surface sterilization if the Contagion ever grips a large segment of the population. The Dominion as a faction may be evil as we know it, but it's hard to say whether that system is actually and fundamentally evil. Certainly, the greatest centers of learning and culture in the world were essentially built out of warlike societies who conquered empires. I think that's why the devs evoke Rome so often. Looking back today, we understand it to be an evil, hedonistic, incestuous empire that crushed entire civilizations under its weight and oppressed both other religions and civilizations for no other reason than the gain of the Empire itself. It's also the foundation of modern western society, and those territories the Romans took over almost universally had their standards of life improved, whether by means such as fresh water and sewers straight through to higher education and relaxing bath houses. I mean, patrician society aside, it's not like the lowborn are living in gutters, for the most part they seem to have better quality goods and services than their Exile counterparts. It's hard to look at the situation with fresh eyes. The developers weren't; they wanted to present the Dominion as bad guys with perhaps good people in the organization. I'm not so sure that's what happened, though. They're narratively on cue; they're pushing the correct buttons. However, the Dominion don't seem anywhere near oppressive or sociopathic enough at the highest levels to really carry off the evil empire vibe. They really do seem more like a monarchy and their society distinctively chevalier. Of course, we in the modern western world understand medieval and feudal society as a dark age of unnecessary warfare and ignorance, but we have to understand that as an archetypical reaction, not necessarily an empirical one. The Dominion are written as mustache twirling villains using stock tropes we're raised to understand through a certain prism. That doesn't necessarily make them evil or even wrong in the greater scheme of things. I think that's what I like so much about them. They aren't written as an actual evil empire, the way you could theoretically bring up the Mongol hordes that had no interest in the betterment of their subjects, they're written as an empire in the style of Rome and Persia. There's a lot of questions over how we should react to empires like that which are doubly our archetypical nightmares and simultaneously the foundation of modern civilizations. In all honesty, it's a more entertaining, intriguing, and powerful story setting than your typical rat-pack rebellion sticking it to the man. Maybe I've just been over-exposed to that in my lifetime, but I had to go a long way to make my Exiles more interesting than the broader section of the Exile faction by going a lot farther to somewhere that the confluence of cultures becomes interesting and sometimes scary. | |} ---- ---- Dominion are monsters. Why would anyone play that faction. | |} ---- Because many players of MMORPGs take the perspective TL;DR when it comes to mission text and have no particular interest in the question of why they're doing what they're doing. Not my own playstyle, but to each their own. Because if nobody plays in the second of two factions, you can't PvP in a faction-based PvP system. Because it can be fun to pretend to be someone who works in the service of the greater bad. A villain who genuinely believes in their cause and can make a very plausible-sounding case for it is a compelling villain. And of course, because some people are more inspired by a pristine garden than they are repulsed by all the bodies that were buried while making it. | |} ---- ---- Last I checked though monster girls/guys are pretty awesome though...XD | |} ---- Hey, I'm pretty! | |} ---- Because when I have the choice between running around like a headless chicken to help a pregnant chick or using funny toys to force people to tell me the truth about what they think about my space monarchy, I chose the second option! The exile are no better. Do you honestly think it's "good" to kill "bad" people? LOL. A murderer is just a murderer but some of them like having excuses. :p | |} ----